State faces another lawsuit over same-sex marriage

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

INDIANAPOLIS – The State of Indiana is now facing another lawsuit over same-sex marriage.

The American Civil Liberties Union, along with attorney Sean C. Lemieux filed a lawsuit challenging the State’s marriage law, saying it violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution.

“We are announcing today that we have filed a lawsuit challenging Indiana`s prohibition on same-sex unions and the lack of recognition of same-sex marriages entered out of the State of Indiana,” said Ken Falk, Legal Director of the ACLU.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five Indiana couples and a widow who said she faced heartbreak and hardships after her wife passed away.

Midori Fujii married her wife Kris Brittain in California. However, when Kris passed away of Ovarian Cancer, Fujii became a stranger in the eyes of Indiana. Her attorney, Lemieux told Fox 59, his client had no say in her wife’s funeral. Instead, she was left to pay $300,000 in inheritance taxes that heterosexual married couples don’t have to pay.

“It is time for Indiana to say this isn’t fair,” said Steven Stolen, one of the petitioners on the lawsuit. He and his partner have a young daughter. They want her to feel like her family is just the same as any other family.

Greg Hasty is another petitioner and is engaged. He said he doesn’t want to go to another state to get married to his partner.

“We live here. We live in the community. We’re both, you know, contributors to our local community. I think we do good work here. We don`t understand why we should go anywhere when we love to be here,” he explained.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller responded to the filing by releasing a statement which said that he would defend Indiana’s definition of marriage.

“When plaintiffs who disagree with an Indiana statute file a challenge in court, I have a duty as Indiana’s Attorney General to defend our state and the statute the Legislature passed to the best of my skill and ability — and will do so here, both now and on any appeal. Though such cases elicit strong opinions on both sides, Hoosiers should maintain civility and respect toward each other while the court does its work,” Zoeller said.